Mickey Goldmill
Mickey Goldmill was Rocky Balboa's trainer. Biography Early life Mickey Goldmill was born on April 7, 1905 to a Jewish family. He boxed professionally from 1922 until 1943, but never gained any measure of fame. Goldmill recalled that he once knocked an opponent out of the ring the same day that Luis Firpo did the same to Jack Dempsey: September 14, 1923. Goldmill claimed that the reason his feat didn't garner any media attention was that he didn't have a manager while Dempsey did. He retired in 1943. Some time after his retirement, he opened a boxing gym in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mighty Mick's Boxing, and began to train fighters. Rocky Balboa Micky continued to manage his gym. One of the regulars in his gym was Rocky Balboa, a local club fighter who had never realized his potential. When heavyweight champion Apollo Creed gave Balboa an unlikely shot at the title, Goldmill approaches him about being his manager. Based on their uneasy prior relationship, Balboa was initially resistant but ultimately agreed to let Goldmill train him. While Balboa lost the fight to Creed, he managed to last the full fifteen rounds, a first for any of Creed's opponents. Rematch Creed then challenged Balboa for a rematch in the hospital, although Rocky did not agree or disagree initially, Mickey angrily stated that there would be no rematch and that Rocky won the fight. Eventually, after Creed's efforts at publicly embarrassing Balboa into a fight, Mickey, again, became Balboa's trainer for the rematch. For the second fight with Creed, Goldmill utilized unique training methods to help Balboa gain speed. He also converted Balboa from a left-handed fighting style to a right-handed style in an effort to both confuse Creed and to protect an eye Balboa had badly injured in the first fight. The rematch took place, after an almost double-KO, Rocky remained standing to be come the winner. Another opponent Goldmill trained Balboa to a series of successful title defenses after the fight with Creed before both men decided it was time for them to retire. Controversial challenger Clubber Lang accused the two of avoiding him. Finally, Balboa agreed to face Lang in a fight which he figured would be his last title defense, partially on the basis of Clubber's public daylight obnoxiousness and suggestivness towards his wife. Goldmill told Rocky that he would have to go for it alone if he decided to fight Lang, later admitting that all of his challengers were hand-picked "good fighters, but not killers". Balboa was eventually able to convince Goldmill to train him anyway, with the promise that this would be their last fight. The matchup was set for August 15, 1981. Shortly before the fight Balboa's and Lang's entourages got into a scuffle and Goldmill was knocked to the ground. He returned to the locker room and when it became apparent that something was wrong, Balboa attempted to call off the fight. Goldmill, however, would have none of it and ordered Balboa to go ahead with the bout. Balboa lost the fight in a second-round knockout. He returned to the locker room shortly before Goldmill finally succumbed to a heart attack. He was 82. Legacy After his death, Rocky recalled his former mentor in flashbacks during the events of some of his later matches. In Ivan Drago: Justice Enforcer, Mickey appears as a ghost. Behind the Scenes *Mickey is a playable character in [[Rocky (video game)|the Rocky video game]], even at an old age. *Burgess Meredith reprised the role in Rocky V and archival footage was used for Rocky IV and Rocky Balboa Appearances *''Rocky I'' *''Rocky II'' *''Rocky III'' *''Rocky V'' *''Rocky'' video game *''Ivan Drago: Justice Enforcer'' Category:Trainers and managers Category:Boxers